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The tech world is all abuzz ([1], [2]) about Steve Job’s open letter suggesting putting an end to Digital Rights Management for music downloads. The more cynical observe that he only brought up the subject after a number of European national governments (not the EU) started actions of various sorts against Apple due to the perceived “lock-in” that comes from music purchased at Apple’s market leading iTunes online store only being playable on Apple’s iPod.
I’ve always viewed the lock-in argument as one of those odd eruptions to which governments are inexplicably prone when they spot someone having fun without their permission, since it is well known (and Jobs reiterates it in his letter) that the overwhelming majority of music on iPods doesn’t come from iTunes. The number of people that are actually ”locked in” to the iPod is vanishingly small, but that won’t make much difference to the bureaucrats mounting their chargers to redress a perceived injustice inflicted by a large foreign company.
Jobs’s big punchline, of course, is the observation is that Apple is forced into tightly obscured, if not secured, DRM by the demands of the four big music publishers (2.5 of which are European) who control 70% of the market and that the chances of an oxymoronic “open DRM” satisfying them are negligible. Therefore, he posits that the real solution is to remove DRM entirely, particularly since the primary source of music for portable media players is CDs which are not copy protected.
Some of the big four are experimenting with DRM free downloads so there may actually be some room there for a solution, but I’d bet that a more likely result is the offering of goofy “iPod N” editions in the offended nations which lack “for pay” iTunes music access, just like the European mandated Windows XP and Vista N editions lack Microsoft’s Media Player. Whatever the solution turns out to be in Europe, it presumably will apply equally to all the other online music distributors including Microsoft since they have the same licensing restrictions. However, an “open DRM” might be even more annoying to them due their offering of subscription licenses unlike Apple. I don’t think Microsoft really wants to figure out the infrastructure to securely swap a Zune Pass with some arbitrary other vendor’s unit.
Perhaps a more interesting question for Microsoft are the implications of the possible audio DRM solutions for video DRM where the market is more fragmented, but where Microsoft provides the technology for many of the current video download competitors (e.g. see Wal-Mart’s announcement this week). Since there is no source of quality DRM-free movie content, it is harder to make the no DRM case and since Microsoft is nearly a de facto standard, maybe the bureaucrats will decide that Microsoft should publish full interoperability information. Where have I heard that one before?
It’s a bit later than promised, but Microsoft today released Windows Media Player 11. Press release:
Microsoft Corp. today released to the public Microsoft® Windows Media® Player 11 for Windows® XP, a significant milestone for music fans and the digital entertainment experience on Windows. This latest version of Windows Media Player offers consumers a test-drive of the breakthrough capabilities in Windows Media Player 11 for Windows Vista™, including enhanced search and media management technologies, a visually driven user interface, and optimized support for portable music players.
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Windows Media Player 11 features seamless integration with URGE, MTV Networks Co.’s digital music service. URGE builds upon MTV Networks’ renowned music heritage, offering rich, hand-crafted programming, first-rate editorial content, and innovative music discovery features to create a truly immersive entertainment experience. The incredibly fast search capabilities of Windows Media Player 11 provide consumers with instant access to the entire URGE catalog of more than 110,000 artists and 2 million songs.
There are more details on new features by following the link and if you can pass the Windows Genuine Advantage test, you can download WMP 11 here. However, as I have mentioned previously, the biggest question is where Windows Media Player stands now that the incompatible Zune music client and DRM are due in a few weeks.
Despite the Microsoft press release from 2 weeks ago, Windows Media Player didn’t ship yesterday as Ina Fried reports at CNET:
Microsoft had hoped to release the final version of Windows Media Player 11 on Tuesday, but the company said the jukebox software was not quite sounding the right note.
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“As with any release, quality is our top priority, and we felt we needed a few additional days to bring Windows Media Player 11 up to the high quality standards we–and our customers and partners–demand.”
The software maker did not go into the specifics of which areas didn’t meet the bar. It only noted that the final version would be released “soon,” with no mention of a specific date. Several enthusiast sites, including Neowin, said that the company is now aiming for an Oct. 30 release.
Since WMP 11 is also bundled with Vista, I’m sure there’s a certain urgency involved.
Tacked on at the bottom of today’s Vista product press release were the outlooks for the shipment of Windows Media Player 11 and Internet Explorer 7:
.. two Windows Vista features, Microsoft Internet Explorer® 7 and Windows Media® Player 11, will be made available in the coming weeks. Windows XP users are encouraged to try the features to get familiar with and excited about these programs now, which will be included in Windows Vista. Internet Explorer 7 will be made available to Windows XP customers via free download in the next two weeks. Microsoft encourages all Windows XP users to download the new version to explore the browsing experience in Windows Vista and take advantage of the new security features that will help protect them against malicious software and phishing attacks. Windows Media Player 11 will be available via free download beginning Oct. 24 and will enable users to take advantage of an elegant and intuitive user interface, a new level of online store integration, especially with MTV’s URGE service, and improved navigation for larger music libraries.
Paul Krevs at Neowin points to a Microsoft blog post that claims that IE7 will be available Oct. 18 and pushed via Automatic Update on Nov. 1. We’ve mentioned the Internet Explorer 7 release previously here with some advice on blocking it if you’re hesitant about accepting it as an Automatic Update.
As for WMP 11 it does have a slick new interface, but we haven’t heard much good about it lately ([1], [2]) and one wonders about its place in the scheme of things since Microsoft’s Zune has seems to have a completely separate media organizer and DRM.
